petemagyar asks, ``What is the best rock album out there, leaving out Zeppelin and including subgenres like metal?''

kingfox asks, ``Should I take a class I'm really interested in, despite it being two credits and not helping me graduate? I've got my breadth done. I'll be wrapping up one major, and just have the other major and fucking French to take care of. This sounds like a great class, but it might delay my graduation slightly. I could audit it, it's a night class, but I don't have the resolve and dedication of utini2 to still take it seriously. What do I do?''

We first mocked it and ignored it, but eventually started watching it as it fell between Sopranos and Da Ali G Show. Finally we got drawn in, just like you did.

One thing that petemagyar noted was how similar it is to most sitcoms, in that everything gets wrapped up in half an hour. Sure, there's the overarching plot much like other HBO dramas. But thirty minutes later, everything works out for the best. That's unusual for an HBO show.

Well that is why I think it's different from other sit-coms these days, I can't think of another sitcom with as strong an overall arc. Plus I LOVED all the hollywood cliches: like you need to sign up for next movie BEFORE your big budget movie opens in case it flops. They Indie Director...things like that. I also enjoyed Piven's character quite and I also loved the cameos by the likes of Val Kilmer, Gary Busey, Sarah Silverman and the like...

I took French in middle school, and barely passed. French was the thing that kept my GPA down in high school the first two years, and it skyrocketed as soon as I no longer needed to take it. My Junior and final traditional year at Drew, I got a mediocre grade in French 1. I took French 20, and would have passed it, but I snapped and failed out of my of my classes my last semester. So I guess I have to take 20 over again.

Q2: Normally, I'd say fuck the requirements and take the class that you want to. I'm not sure though - your situation isn't the standard one - do you want to just get all this crap over with? And night classes are the worst. Especially if the class is History of Russian Religion with Dean Pain and even the grad student TA can't keep awake during the class.

I enjoy night classes. It's not interrupting my work day, I can grab a bite to eat then get into class, and I tend to be the only person awake. Computability was a MT 7-9 class this past semester, and it worked perfectly for me.

I want to get the crap over with, but it's a class that would really hold my interest. Observe:

New Course for Spring 2005Computers: Social and Ethical Issues

Between 1985 and 1987, at least six cancer patients in the United States and Canada received massive overdoses of radiation from a computer controlled medical device, the Therac-25. In September, 2004, a system failure left air traffic controllers unable to communicate with hundreds of commercial aircraft over California for three hours. Software bugs contributed to both incidents.

In 1998, President Clinton signed into law the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), to protect children from Internet pornography, but the Act has not been implemented. In June, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold a lower court injunction against COPA.

The Diebold Corporation manufactures electronic voting machines. In an August, 2003, Republican fund-raising letter, Diebold’s Chief Executive, Michael O’Dell, wrote that he was committed to “helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President.”

Computer Science 27 (2 credits)An investigation of social and ethical issues related to computers and computing technologies, emphasizing current events and controversies. Topics will include privacy, security, the First and Fourth Amendments, computer crime, and corporate responsibility.

It's not a question of pass/fail, it's a question of timing. I get sixteen credits a year for free. I've taken eight, and have another eight to take. Do I take the two credit class, and find another two credits to fill in somewhere? Or do I take something I'll need to graduate, to try to get that done earlier?

For Pete: Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, unless you're really into metal -- then I'd say Seasons in the Abyss by Slayer

For kingfox: Take the class you're interested in. Considerit a payoff for all the work you've done. That will leave enough brain power for you to finish up the other major. Cramming the two in record time is risky and may cost you serious brain matter.

There are a lot of other albums that have some songs that I like better than Pink Floyd. But as a whole album, big-picture, I've got to go with The Wall. The songs, the story, the images from the movie, the world-view - it all fit together beautifully.

Speaking of which, what do you think of the Korn remake of Another Brick in the Wall...?